A father who murdered his 39-day old baby will spend longer in prison after his original sentence was deemed "unduly lenient."
James Dean Clarke, 31, of Warmley, South Gloucestershire, was convicted of murder in September after a post-mortem examination found his 36-day old baby Sean had sustained a total of 74 fractures on his ribs.
Clarke was originally sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 15 years, which has since been increased to a minimum of 18 years following a successful appeal from the Solicitor General, Alex Chalk QC, MP for Cheltenham.
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Clarke was found to have inflicted injuries on his young baby which resulted in his death.
On the morning of January 14, 2018, the child's mother found him unresponsive in his cot.
A post-mortem examination concluded baby Sean had sustained a total of 74 fractures to his ribs which had been inflicted on at least three separate occasions.
The injuries were consistent with the baby having been shaken violently shortly before his death. While some of the injuries were recent, there was evidence others were not and had begun to heal.
On September 24, at Bristol Crown Court, Clarke was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 15 years.
The Solicitor General, Alex Chalk QC MP, referred Clarke’s sentence to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme.
Today (Friday, November 19) the Court of Appeal found his original sentence to be unduly lenient and increased it to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 18 years.
Speaking after the hearing, the Mr Chalk said Clarke had abused his position of trust.
He said: “This was a deeply upsetting and disturbing case, involving an extremely vulnerable victim. Clarke grossly abused his position of trust and his actions stole the life of an innocent child he should have been protecting. It is only right the sentence has been increased to reflect the severity of the crime.”
Det Supt James Riccio, the Senior Investigating Officer, who attended the Court of Appeal earlier today, said afterwards: “This increase in sentence better reflects the gravity of the heinous crime this man committed against his own 39-day-old son.
“It’s hard to put into words how devastating the loss of a child is, especially when it’s as a result of such a cold and callous act.
“Our thoughts are very much with all those who loved Sean and I hope they feel a greater sense of justice now the sentence against his murderer has been increased.”
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